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SCUTTLEBUTT 3670 - Thursday, September 6, 2012Scuttlebutt is published each weekday with the support of its sponsors,providing a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus. Website: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/scuttbutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt RSS: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/rss/index.xml Today's sponsors: Ullman Sails and Atlantis WeatherGear. SAILING WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S KIDS By Nick Hayes, Spinsheet Magazine It was two in the morning, blowing at least twenty-five knots, when a huge breaking wave hit us on our starboard stern and threw the boat sideways. The boom buried and we were knocked flat in a full broach. Tim was seated aft on the port side and slid underneath the lifelines feet first. He was shoulder deep in the water hanging on to a winch with one arm. Someone blew the guy and the kite ran free. As it collapsed, the boat recovered and in a flash, Tim used the upward momentum to one-arm his way back on deck. A few minutes later we had the kite wrestled aboard, and we went with a smaller headsail. An ashen-faced Tim, a kid that we'd picked up earlier in the season from the club junior program, leaned over and pleaded, "Don't tell my mom." Earlier that day, a modest broad reach had gradually built to a playful 10-knot surf, and then, at about midnight, a full blown, nuking, bare-knuckle run made more tempestuous by an 9-foot following sea. Syrena's bow would nudge down and briefly hesitate as her stern lifted on the leading edge of a breaker, and she'd launch and careen down the face of the wave sending spray to the height of the first spreaders on both sides, sometimes for many minutes. Each surf broke another speed record. We consistently saw mid-teens, and we peaked near 20-knots on one wet slalom. This was what our B-32, a little ULDB (Ultra Light Displacement Boat), was designed to do. We were racing hard, but we had both eyes on safety. As the wind piped up, we made certain that every person was wearing full weather gear, a PFD, a light and whistle, a harness, and we were all tethered to jack-lines. We were de-powered, running with our chicken-chute strapped down, and the boat loved it, like an unleashed puppy, until the rogue wave took us down. Tim was a bit shell-shocked, but he was with us. My wife slid in close and asked how old Tim was. "Sixteen, I think." She whispered something like "Holy Cow," but with more colorful vocabulary. One of the most difficult sailing challenges you may face will be taking other people's kids. You are sure to run into situations that seem daunting and extreme and that make you second guess the idea. Fearing such a thing, many people just won't do it. While I understand the feeling, I think it's a mistake to give in to it. -- Read on: http://issuu.com/cdeere/docs/sept_ss_2012?mode=window&pageNumber=51 2012 PARALYMPIC GAMES - SAILING EVENTS Weymouth, UK (September 5, 2012) - The penultimate day of the 2012 Paralympic Sailing Regatta brought the most wind of the Games, with 15-20 knots keeping the event on schedule. With only one race remaining on Thursday, the leaders in the single- and two-person events have nearly unassailable positions, while the Dutch three person team today rolled a 1-2-5 to take the gold medal with a day to spare. Among the North American contingent, the duo of Jen French (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and JP Creignou (St. Petersburg, Fla.) may prove to be the lone team on the podium. Posting a 2-3 today, they are assured a medal, but their tactics on Thursday may be about protecting their silver than attacking for the gold. "The battle isn't over with," French cautioned. "We are only two points ahead of the British team, so I am sure we will be sailing very close to each other." Single-Person Keelboat (2.4mR) - Top 5 of 16 (after 10 races) 1. Helena Lucas (GBR) - 26pts 2. Heiko Kroger (GER) - 35pts 3. Thierry Schmitter (NED) - 37pts 4. Damien Seguin (FRA) - 44pts 5. Paul Tingley (CAN) - 47pts Two-Person Keelboat (SKUD18) - Top 5 of 11 (after 10 races) 1. Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) - 14pts 2. Jen French and JP Creignou (USA) - 20pts 3. Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR) - 22pts 4. John McRoberts and Stacie Louttit (CAN) - 34pts 5. Marco Gualandris and Marta Zanetti (ITA) - 46pts Three-Person Keelboat (Sonar) - Top 5 of 14 (after 10 races) 1. Udo Hessels, Marcel van de Veen & Mischa Rossen (NED) - 20pts 2. Jens Kroker, Siegmund Mainka & Robert Prem (GER) - 40pts 3. John Robertson, Hannah Stodel & Stephen Thomas (GBR) - 41ps 4. Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen (NOR) - 42pts 5. Bruno Jourdren, Nicolas Vimont-Vicary & Eric Flageul (FRA) - 42pts Complete results: http://tinyurl.com/Para-2012-results Canada report: http://www.canadiansailingteam.ca/ USA report: http://tinyurl.com/USST-090512 THE RIGHT SAIL CHOICE Whether managing a PHRF rating or evaluating cloth durability, selecting your next sail can be a daunting task. You want the best choice for your boat, not the best sale for your sailmaker. At Ullman Sails, we focus on finding sail solutions that fit the needs of our customers, not our monthly quota. Ullman Sails has been designing and building quality sails for 44+ years. With expertise on and off the water, our lofts have the experience and resources to evaluate your goals and answer your questions. So let's talk inventory options and cloth specifications. Invest in your performance. http://www.ullmansails.com ALWAYS LEAVE THEM WANTING MORE In Optimist class parlance, the Green fleeters are the newbies to racing. Some kids will love it; some won't. Brandon Flack, the Junior Chair of the Wadawanuck Yacht Club in Stonington, CT, reflects on what has helped his program enjoy steady growth... ------------------------------------------------------------ What makes a great Green fleet regatta is a great question and a very important one to the future of our sport. The simple answer is that a great event should inspire a passion for sailboat racing for all competitors. This, of course, is a lot harder to do than it sounds! How do you inspire passion for anything in kids today? I love to tell the story about Phil Mickelson, who at 6 years old was running away from home after dinner...literally dragging his golf clubs to the course for more playing time. Phil learned to swing left-handed by watching his father just having fun. Phil's father always made a point to stop golfing when Phil had peaked for that day. Whether it was his first made putt, first par, birdie or eagle - right after one of those monumental events happened, Dad would make up an excuse and pull him off the course. The result? If you follow golf, you'll see a pro who plays at the highest level, fueled by sheer passion and love of what he is doing. How does this relate to running a great Green fleet regatta? The main point is please do not keep the kids on the water too long. The goal is to give the kids just enough racing that they all have fun. Do not wait until two thirds of the fleet are showing signs of getting tired. Get them off the water after just two - or maybe three - very short races, and don't spend more than two hours on the water. Hopefully, they'll all be begging for more as you drag them off the water - not relieved that it's finally over. -- WindCheck, read on: http://tinyurl.com/WC-090512 FAST START ENDS WITH A WHISPER Newport, RI (September 5, 2012) - Twenty-four Corinthian (amateur) teams from around the U.S. today began the qualifying process to see who would move on to race against an elite international field in the 2013 Invitational Cup. Competing on Narragansett Bay in the second ever U.S. Qualifying Series, the top three teams will have demonstrated excellence in both the new J/70 and the Sonar to advance for next year's championship sailed in NYYC Swan 42s. Divided into two groups, the red fleet started the day in Sonars while the blue fleet was in the J/70s. After four races the fleets switched boats, getting in two more races. What started with 15-18-knot planing conditions for the quick J/70s came to an end when the final rain squall killed the breeze by mid-afternoon. Early leaders are Payson Infelise, Chris Raab, and John Fuller (Newport Harbor Yacht Club) and Greg Griffin, Andy Culver, Will Newton, and Dave De Camp (The Florida Yacht Club). With three more days of racing, organizers expect by Friday to move the top six from the red and blue fleets into a Championship series in J/70s with the remaining 12 racing the Sonars in a Consolation series. The winner of the Championship series will not only hold a berth along with second and third place finishers for the 2013 Invitational Cup but will also win the Resolute Trophy. Results after six races and one throw out: Red Fleet 1. Newport Harbor Yacht Club, 2,1,1,3,4,(9); 11pts 2. San Francisco Yacht Club, (7),4,3,2,1,2; 12 pts 3. Seattle Yacht Club, 1,2,4,(5),2,3; 12 pts 4. Little Traverse Yacht Club 5,5,2,1,(7),7; 20 pts 5. California Yacht Club, 6,6,7,(10),3,1; 23 pts 6. Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, 8,3,(11),4,5,4; 24 pts Blue Fleet 1. The Florida Yacht Club, 3,2,(6),2,2,1; 10 pts 2. Indian Harbor Yacht Club, (11),3,2,1,1,5; 12 pts 3. Carolina Yacht Club, 2,5,3,3,(9),2; 15 pts 4. Eastern Yacht Club, 4,(6),1,4,5,3; 17 pts 5. Ft. Worth Boat Club, 1,1,5,(8),7,8; 22 pts 6. Pequot Yacht Club, (8),8,4,5,3,6; 29 pts Full report: http://tinyurl.com/USQS-090512 WHERE STADIUM SAILING BEGAN San Francisco, CA (September 5, 2012) - San Francisco, a city well versed in the excitement of fast-action sailing, will not have to sit idle waiting for its next America's Cup World Series event to take place. That's because the 48th edition of the Rolex Big Boat Series, one of San Francisco Bay's most revered sailing traditions, begins Thursday and continues through Sunday (Sept. 9), hosting 66 boats in four IRC classes, three one-design classes and a new catamaran class. Spectator friendliness has long flowed through this regatta's veins, as a "North Course" race area offers a start off Berkeley Pier and runs close to Point Blunt on Angel Island and a "City Front" race area brings the action close to shore, just as its name implies, after a start off Treasure Island. Sailors set out each morning to one or the other course, depending on which class they are in, and then alternate to the other course for the afternoon's racing, which features the bonus spectacle of all boats finishing within 50 feet of the Race Deck at host St. Francis Yacht Club. Because of that choreography, spectators at Crissy Field get an eyeful, too. "It's big-breeze, short-course racing in the greatest place you can possibly imagine sailing," said Norman Davant, the local-knowledge strategist aboard Manouch Moshayedi's (Corona del Mar) southern California IRC 52 Rio, which is sailing in IRC A. "It's unique here because we are surrounded by land, and whether it's a flood or an ebb current, you're going to have boats sailing close to shore." Davant did warn that the first two days of this year's event could show winds with less punch than normal, but he expects a "return to normal thermal conditions" for the weekend. -- Read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/12/0905/ DISCOVER: THE RIGHT GEAR FOR THE CONDITIONS Today was what we at Atlantis call an "Aegis day" at the NYYC Invitational Cup US Qualifying Series. Twenty-four of the top amateur teams from around the country were treated to solid breeze accompanied by blinding rainstorms - not exactly what the Newport Chamber of Commerce promised, but for those with good gear, it was a nice sailing day. Don't get caught without good gear this fall. Check out the Aegis range online at http://www.AtlantisWeatherGear.com and at Team One Newport. Discover how much more fun it is to be dry. Discover your Atlantis. SAILING SHORTS * Following the first day of testing for Oracle Team USA's first AC72 on August 31, the boat has returned to the shed at the team's Pier 80 base in San Francisco. The new boat, 17, incurred a daggerboard failure in the starboard hull, and the team is currently building replacement daggerboards which is anticipated to take several weeks. -- http://media.oracleteamusa.com/pressreleases/?id=526 * Porto Cervo, Italy (September 5, 2012) - Following Tuesday's adverse weather conditions which prevented racing, the 34 sailing giants competing in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup were back out dong battle on the water today. At the conclusion of a long coastal course, Aegir, Nilaya and Magic Carpet 2 retain pole position in the Racing/Cruising, Super Maxi and Wally divisions respectively while Esimit Europa 2 takes control of the Racing division. Among the 12-boat Mini Maxi class, competing for the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship, Bella Mente now holds first place in the provisional overall classification. Racing continues through September 8th. -- Full report: http://tinyurl.com/YCCS-090512 * Nice, France (September 5, 2012) - The second day of competition for the ISAF Grade 3 World University Match Racing Championship was initially delayed due to a lack of wind, but the afternoon allowed for both the men's (Beneteau 7.5) and women's (J/24) divisions to continue with qualification. In the male competition, the British and Australian teams lead while Brazil tops the women's group. -- Full report: http://www.wucmatchracing2012.com/actualites-details.php?actualite=53 * A tropical storm has strengthened into Hurricane Leslie in the Atlantic Ocean, forecasters said Wednesday. The slow-moving storm could affect Bermuda this weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The Category 1 hurricane was churning Wednesday afternoon about 465 miles (750 kilometers) south-southeast of the British territory and moving north at 2 mph (4 kph), the hurricane center said. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph). -- http://tinyurl.com/CNN-090512 AVOID THE CREEPER ON THE SUBWAY If you're among the billions of people on Facebook, 'liking' the Scuttlebutt page provides you the photos and video needed to keep from talking to the creeper on the subway. Here are some recent posts... - ACWS San Francisco highlights - Memories of Windward Passage - Bridge to Bridge Race on San Francisco Bay - Yoga on a Stand Up Paddleboard - Oracle Team USA's first outing on the AC72 - Aggressive parenting - Waterproof smartphone Like us here: http://www.facebook.com/sailingscuttlebutt GUEST COMMENTARY Scuttlebutt strongly encourages feedback from the Scuttlebutt community. Either submit comments by email or post them on the Forum. Submitted comments chosen to be published in the newsletter may be limited to 250 words. Authors may have one published submission per subject, and should save their bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere. Email: editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum * From Arturo Delgado de Almeida, former ISAF VP (1990-94): For me it is unbelievable to not have a keel boat at the Olympic Games, and even worse, to not guarantee a minimum of four Games for all the equipment. The present system with the possibility to change the equipment every four years for each Games has favored only the "wealthy" countries and personal interests and "lobbies" in the corridors. It is very sad to see how badly the ISAF is going on, at least in my opinion. * From Vann Wilson: Over the weekend I attended a multi-class regatta where the trophy presentation was held up for over an hour due to a protest in one of the classes. We are taught that it is good manners to always stay for the trophy presentation out of respect for both our competitors and the race organizers, whether or not one is receiving a trophy. However, in this case after an hour or so of waiting, the crowd thinned out; even several of those receiving trophies abandoned the trophy presentation to tackle long drives home and who could blame them. This always provides a bit of an awkward moment of silence when prizes are awarded and go uncollected. I was wondering what other clubs do with regard to the prize giving ceremonies of a multi-class regatta with protests pending. EDITOR'S NOTE: You heard the man... reply with your ideas. * From Bob Carter: Thanks for sharing Jeremy's report from winning the Melges 24 NAs (Scuttlebutt 3669). It was revealing to hear a tactician's commitment to speed, and also his openness on how much the venue impacts the tuning numbers. I guess you need to be fast to be smart. All good lessons. FREE CLASSIFIED ADS The Scuttlebutt Classified Ads provide a marketplace for private parties to buy and sell, or for businesses to post job openings. Here are recent for sale ads: * 2007 Club 420 * 1996 Platu 25 - $17,000 * Elliott 6M Olympic Match Racing Keelboats View/post ads here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/forum/classified_ads CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION All my life I've wanted to be someone; I guess I should have been more specific. SPONSORS THIS WEEK Atlantis WeatherGear - Team One Newport Soft Deck - APS - North Sails - e-Sailing - Ullman Sails Ribcraft - Summit Yachts - Premiere Racing Need stuff? Look here: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ssc/suppliers |
